WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  RESTRICTED 
WT/ACC/SYC/15 
6 October 2011 
 (11-4861) 
Working Party on the 
Accession of Seychelles Original:   English 
 
 
 
ACCESSION OF SEYCHELLES 
 
Information on Implementation and Administra tion of the Agreement on Implementation of 
Article VII of the General Agr eement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 
(Customs Valuation Agreement) 
 
 
 The following submission, dated 19 September 2011, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of the Republic of Seychelles.   
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 WT/ACC/SYC/15 
Page 2  
 
  Seychelles would like to confirm that as it has previously stated on page 31 of document 
WT/ACC/SYC/9, the current customs valuation me thod being used is the Brussels Definition of 
Value (BDV).   The BDV method is described in the Trades Tax Regulation (1997), specifically 
Section 188: 
(1) Where upon examination by an officer of goods lia ble to tax, it appears to that officer that the 
goods are not valued according to their true value at the time and place of importation, the 
Comptroller may require the importer to decl are on oath before hi m the true valuation 
according to the best of the belief of such im porter and to adduce any documentary evidence 
he may possess in support thereof; 
 Provided that: 
 (i) where it appears to the Comptroller, whet her such oath as aforesaid  shall have been 
required or not, that such goods have been decl ared at a value below their true value at 
the time and place of importation, he shall  assess the value of the goods;  
 (ii) in case of dispute, the goods shall be examined by two competent persons one of 
whom shall be appointed by the Comptrolle r, and the other by the importer; those 
two persons shall, before entering into th e inquiry select an umpire, and shall then 
declare on oath before the Comptroller what is the true value of such articles at the 
time and place of importation, and in case those persons shall not agree, then the declaration of such value on oath, as aforesaid, of the umpire shall be final. 
(2) If any importer shall fail within 3 days from hi s being required so to do make an appointment 
as herein before provided, or if no declarati on shall be made by the persons appointed as 
aforesaid, or by the umpire selected by them, within 3 days from their appointment or 
selection, as the case may be, then, in any case,  the declaration of the person appointed as 
aforesaid by the Comptroller shall be final. 
(3) This regulation shall not apply in cases wher e the Comptroller is of the opinion that any 
evasion of the provisions of these Regulations has been committed or attempted. 
In view of the substantial difference in pr ocedures between the BDV and GATT Valuation, 
Seychelles will for the time being continue to appl y the BDV whilst it gives appropriate training to its 
customs officers in GATT Valuation procedures, with the assistance of WCO, and upon completion 
of the training Seychelles shall begin to apply Article VII of the GATT 1994. 
It is to be noted that the implementation of the GATT Valuation is part of a wider Customs reform 
programme, currently being undertaken.  Seychelles shall keep the Working Party informed on the 
progress through its respective Legislative Action Plan  (LAP), that is has to submit on a periodical 
basis. 
Seychelles reaffirms its commitment on legislati ng and implementing the GATT valuation upon the 
date of its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) 
 
 
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   WT/ACC/SYC/15
 Page 3Agreement on the GATT Value Actions to be developed, including law proposals and 
regulations on specific topics Timetable conclusion Remarks 
The Customs Management Act (CMA) will 
incorporate the GATT valuation as a 
regulation. The Customs Management Act (CMA) will be in full 
conformity with the WTO requisites by the date of 
Seychelles’ accession. July 2013 Legislative Action Plan includes 
the CMA Time - Table. 
The Customs Management Act (CMA) Seminars and workshops on the CMA.  By fourth quarter 2011 
Adaptation and familiarizations of the CMA, by the 
user. By fourth quarter 2011 
Evaluation of the implementation of the CMA. Fourth quarter 2012 
Adaptation to the WTO valuation system. Workshop s, seminars functionaries study and training 
visits. Fourth quarter 2011- 
first quarter 2013 Requires technical assistance. 
Creation of a technologic information base 
including a data base on risk evaluation. Data base of the evaluation of risks (risk assessment) is 
fundamental to the implementation of the WTO Agreement of Value. December 2012 The automatic information 
collection has to be updated with the ASYCUDA Plus Information 
System. 
Training courses on the GATT Agreement on 
Value. Seminar/Workshop on the principles of the 
GATT/WTO Agreement of Value. July 2013 Requires technical assistance. 
Article 1 - Transactional value of imported 
merchandise. Implementation and regulations. July 2013   
Article 2 - Transactional value of identical 
merchandise. Implementation and regulations. July 2013   
Article 3 - Transactional value of similar 
merchandise. Implementation and regulations. July 2013   
Article 4 - Inverse application of the deductive 
and the calculated methods. Implementation and regulations. July 2013   
Article 5 - Deductive Value. Implementation and regulations. July 2013   
Article 6 - Calculated Value. Implementation and regulations. July 2013   
Article 8 - Adjustment to the transactional 
value of imported merchandise. Implementation and regulations. July 2013   
Article 9 - Currency conversion1. Implementation and regulations. July 2013   
Article 10 - Confidential information. Implementation and regulations. July 2013   
Article 11 - Importer's right to appeal the 
determination of Customs Value by the 
Customs. Implementation and regulations. July 2013   
Article 12 - Publication of relevant laws and 
regulations. Implementation and regulations. July 2013   
Article 13 - Guarantees for clearing 
merchandise. Implementation and regulations. July 2013   
Article 14 - Establishes that the Annexes I, II 
and III are integral pa rts of the Agreement. Implementation and regulations. July 2013   
                                                      
1 Requisites pertaining to concurrency shall be incorporated in the CMA, rather than being in a specific provision.  
  WT/ACC/SYC/15 
Page 4 Agreement on the GATT Value Actions to be developed, including law proposals and 
regulations on specific topics Timetable conclusion Remarks 
Article 15 - Definition of expressions utilized 
in the determination of Customs Value. Implementation and regulations. July 2013   
Article 16 - Importer's right to a written 
explanation from the Customs authorities on the determination of Customs Value. Implementation and regulations. July 2013   
Article 17 - Customs right to question the 
veracity or exactness of any affirmation, 
document or declaration presented for the purpose of determining the Customs Value. Implementation and regulations. July 2013   
Technical training on determination of 
Customs value. Course to train trainers for selected Customs 
functionaries identified as ha ving the capacity to teach. October 2012 Requires technical assistance. 
Creation of a technical information system 
including a reference data base on the value of identical or similar goods. The data base for the evaluation of identical or similar 
merchandise is vital to implementation of identical and similar merchandise transactional value (methods 2 and 
3 applied sequentially). October 2012 Requires technical assistance. 
Training on risk evaluation. Workshops/se minars presented by specialists in "risk 
evaluation". October 2012 Requires technical assistance. 
Training on post declaration or post-dispatch 
auditing2 Workshops/seminars on post declaration or post-
dispatch audits. October 2012 Requires technical assistance. 
  Total implementation of the WTO Customs Valuation 
Agreement. July 2013   
Note: 1. Total implementation of the agreement on Customs Valuatio n by July 2013, at the latest, in conformity with the Action Plan. 
 2. This action plan should be adjusted in conformity with the needs and the success of the implementation strategy. 
 
 
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2 The CMA should contain requisites that obligate the importers an d the declarers to make their books entries available for audi ting.